


Forces of Nature

by goodcasting



Series: Bangkok Blokes [4]
Category: Johnny's Entertainment, SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff and Crack, Introducing Okabe, M/M, Male Friendship, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Prequel, Slow Burn, Taiga POV, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodcasting/pseuds/goodcasting
Summary: The famous 6 are back together for some fun, Kouchi is still not getting answers from Taiga, but hey, Taiga and Hokuto have started talking, until an Aishiteru  Game forced them to say those words.Who will be the first to say it? And how will the other reply?/Prequel to Bangkok Blokes
Relationships: Kyomoto Taiga/Matsumura Hokuto
Series: Bangkok Blokes [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1893022
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Forces of Nature

**Author's Note:**

> -time-stamp: 3 years before the events in Bangkok Blokes  
> -So happy to write some humor with 6T  
> -Obviously, got inspired by the Aishiteru Game from Sutotube where they got coward and didn't pair up KyomoHoku so here.  
> 

_Ever mine, ever thine, ever ours…_

“So, what happened between you and Hokuto?” Kouchi asked as they drank beer in a quaint yakitori place tucked in the bustling Ameyoko.

Taiga let out a heavy sigh before drinking his beer straight, “you’ve been asking me the same question since winter, it’s now summer,”

“And you still evade the question, or if you answer, it’s further from the truth,” Kouchi replied and called the staff to order more liver.

“Isn’t it enough that we are no longer avoiding each other? Just this weekend, didn’t we all go out to watch Gintama?” Taiga pointed-out, he also wanted to add that Hokuto and he were very civil, Hokuto even asked him about his stay in Osaka, told him he looked healthier, which in Taiga’s mind meant ‘fat’, they even sat beside each other when they watched Gintama, he even tried some of Hokuto’s wasabi popcorn, they would say ‘hi!’ to each other, even smile sometimes, and they were overall okay, o-k-a-y. 

“Oh yeah, you and Hokuto is like how my dad treats my mom’s friends when they come over for their crochet session,”

“How does your dad treat your mom’s friends?”

“In professional terms, we call it civil, but in layman’s terms, fake, plastic, forced, pretentious, sham, mock,-”

“Okay, Kouchi, there’s no need for you to show-off how good you are with synonyms. You can say that Hokuto and I are starting-over again, so we could still be awkward, but at least we’re talking,” Taiga said to convinced Kouchi, but he also knew that he couldn’t even convince himself.

“Pffft, I still don’t know what happened between you guys, but one thing is clear with the way you two are acting right now, you decided to ignore rather than to confront whatever it is, and because of that, nothing is ever solved,” Kouchi said in between munching the chicken breast.

“Well, there are things in life that don’t need solving, you just wait for it to disappear,” Taiga said as he drank his third glass of beer.

“Oh yeah, that’s why the word regret is born, because of people like you who thinks that a problem can solve itself and when you’re ready to confront it, it’s too late,” he looked at Taiga and raised his glass, “I hope you won't regret whatever it is that you refused to tell me,”

“I won’t, let’s just drink for my return to TV,” Taiga raised his glass and together they shouted, “Kanpai!”

***

“I’m not angry or anything, but really, who voted for a fucking mountain climbing over a beach?” Juri asked while their stylists clamor on how to coordinate their hiking outfits.

“Wouldn’t this be too hot?” Taiga asked his stylist when she made him wear pink arm sleeves, which she responded that Taiga could remove it when it gets too hot on the way up.

“Why am I dressed like Steve Irwin? I’ll just be climbing a mountain, I’m not gonna fight with crocodiles,” Shintaro complained about his forest ranger ensemble.

“Be thankful, Shintaro,” Jesse said, “they dressed me up like that fat kid from UP,”

Shintaro and Taiga chuckled while they looked at Jesse’s Boy Scout ensemble complete with the sash of pins, in his case were beer caps, draped across his chest.

“I know I’m cute, but this outfit makes me look retarded,” Jesse complained, Kouchi was about to add something when they heard their director’s booming voice over the megaphone.

“Okay, quit complaining, and let’s get this over with before it rains,” Okabe said.

The six guys looked up, gray clouds rolled between the hills, but some rays of sunlight still managed to go through on this July summer.

“Okay, lined-up, we have a short quiz before you go up the mountain,”

“I hate quizzes, it makes us look stupid,” Jesse said.

“You mean, it makes you look stupid?” Kouchi joked.

“HAHA,”

“Okay, listen, guys who love to complain, the cameras are now rolling so be on your best behavior,” and just like a snapped of a finger, the 6 co-stars smiled like pros.

“Okay, so, for our viewers, where are we?”

Jesse raised his hand, “Taiwan,” he answered.

“Can you be more specific than that?”

“Taipei, Taiwan,” Shintaro quipped.

“Okay, Taiga, do you have an answer?”

“Uhm, a vacant parking lot in Taipei, Taiwan,” Taiga meant it as a joke, but it earned him an irate look from Okabe-san.

“I guess I won’t be hearing a proper answer so, I’ll say it, we’re in Yangmingshan National Park and today, the six of you will be climbing Qixing Mountain, yes, Jesse, you have a question?”

“Why?”

“We had voted, remember, this activity won over the beach, so here we are, yes, Juri?”

“Uhm, considering that the majority of us here are male, why did the majority voted for mountain climbing when the sight of girls in a bikini is more preferable?”

Silence followed together with an awkward exchange of glances. “We will have to edit that one,” Okabe said, “now, as I was saying, you guys are going to climb Qixing and there are three routes up to their twin peaks, one is the easiest, the other is quite easy, but the longest with the steepest climb during the last hour, then the last one is quite easy but also quite steep,”

“We’re choosing the easiest, the plain easiest,” Shintaro said.

“That will depend on how well you do with this quiz, the first person to get 3 correct answers gets to choose first, in the end, it will be 2 people per route, and we will be having another game once you reached the top,”

The guys groaned, trust Okabe-san not to make this easy for them, every time they got an out of country filming, Okabe-san had this compulsion to make every penny spent on the location to be worth it. In the end, the guys would end up more tired than in Japan.

“Don’t worry, the questions are super easy, it’s about surviving in the wild,”

“Surviving in the wild? We’re barely surviving in Tokyo and that’s a city,” Kouchi complained.

Okabe ignored Kouchi and asked the first question, “what would you when you encounter a wild boar in the forest?”

“Huh?!” was all their reaction.

“Okabe-san, do you honestly think that we can answer this?” Shintaro said with gritted teeth.

“Okabe-san, I’m volunteering to do the steepest climb, so can I be excused on this quiz?” Jesse asked.

“Just give it a try,” Okabe-san said, being their director for close to five years made him quite immune to all their complaints, “oh yes, Hokuto?”

“If you encounter a wild boar, run away in zigzag,”

The five guys looked at Hokuto as though they’ve been betrayed, it had been their tradition that if they collectively complained enough, Okabe-san would cave in.

“And that is correct!” Okabe exclaimed, he looked like he would cry because someone took his quizzes seriously, “wild boars can only run in a straight line so if you ran away in zigzag, they would lose you,”

“Next question,” The 5 guys groaned inwardly but they paid attention now, their collective complaining would not work without one of them.

“What would you do if you see wolves? Yes, Shintaro?”

“Well, first, I have to make sure they are wolves, what if they are Siberian Huskies?”

“Wrong, yes, Taiga?’

“I’ll treat them like how I would treat my dog, sit down and wait for them to approach-”

“You would die,” Okabe said, “yes, Kouchi, hopefully, something sensible from you?” Okabe-san hoped, his eyes begging Kouchi for a sensible answer, something befitting from the oldest member.

“Uhm, pretend to be dead?”

“Eventually, you won’t have to pretend anymore because you will be one, yes, Juri?”

“Run in zigzag?”

Okabe sighed and looked up like he was praying to the heavens, for longer patience maybe, or for the heavens to just take him so he could be in peace. “Okay, I give up, since Hokuto is the only one who got the correct answer, automatically he’ll be taking the easiest route, Jesse volunteered earlier to do the steepest climb so I’ll give him that, and the four of you, I’ll choose via random picker,” Okabe opened his phone and typed for quite a long time before he announced the results, “Okay, Hokuto and Taiga for the easiest climb, which I think is good since Taiga is bad at sports, Jesse with Juri for-”

Taiga didn’t hear the rest of Okabe’s announcements, Hokuto’s name echoed on his ear and on his head. He might be able to act normal with his friends around, but Taiga knew, when it’s just him and Hokuto, the mask he wore might just crack.

***

Taiga looked at his watch and silently cursed, he is fucking tired, he almost finished his only sports drink, had eaten a banana for energy, and it had only been 30 minutes since they started the climb. A kid, not younger than 10, just whizzed past him and he was just wearing slippers. Then, a white woman in a short dress and sandals, casually eating a McDonald’s French fries, also passed-by him, Taiga might be dressed like a pro, but his actions were definitely a beginner.

“Are you okay?” Hokuto asked, they were also climbing with one videographer and one writer, both were clearly no novice in climbing.

“I’m fine,” Taiga lied as he steadied his breathing, he really wanted to go down now, “s-sorry if I’m slowing you down,”

“It’s fine, let’s climb at your own pace, we’re not in a race,” Hokuto said as they climbed more stairs before finally reaching a clearing filled with sulfuric vents that smelled like rotten eggs.

“Let’s take a 10 minutes break,” their writer announced.

“Have some of my trail mix, it’s good for muscle recovery,” Hokuto threw him a ziplock filled with different kinds of nuts, salted pretzels, m&m’s, dried prunes and cranberries.

“Thanks,” Taiga took some before returning it to Hokuto.

“I have an extra Pocari here if you want,”

“It’s okay, I still have a bottle of water, I think I can survive until we reach the peak,” Taiga said, he cursed himself for spending the past four months being idle than working-out or something. He couldn’t tell Juri, but he was one of the majorities who voted for mountain climbing, he gained a lot of weight due to his a-chan’s superb cooking that he didn’t have the nerve to go topless in the beach, now he regretted it, it’s not like someone would care about his flabby tummy.

“Lovely view from here, I think this will get better when we’re at the top,” Hokuto said while he munched his trail mix.

“Yeah, lovely view,” Hokuto has one of the best side-profiles ever, his nose and jaw were cut to perfection that he looked good at any angles. He looked intimidating when he’s serious, and very endearing when his little fangs showed. A single raindrop made Taiga looked at the same direction that Hokuto was looking, a view hillsides, rolling clouds, and towns.

“Let’s continue before it really starts raining,” their writer announced before they start hiking again.

Taiga and Hokuto hiked for another two and a half hours, Taiga felt like they entered some kind of portal as the fickle mountain weather shifted from foggy to sunny, a bit of squall, and more clouds. While the weather was bizarre, the pathway to the peak was pretty tolerable until they reach a hundred meters steep climb where Taiga found himself relying on Hokuto to steady himself, their hands together, as they tackle one steep step at a time. When they finally reached the top, Taiga couldn’t help but reach Hokuto for a hug, he’s warm and sweaty, he could feel the rise and fall of his chest with his own, his breathing ragged, and when Taiga felt that Hokuto wasn’t returning the hug, he immediately broke it, and to make everything look normal, Taiga ran to Jesse and Juri, each panting as they arrived at the peak, and welcomed them with a hug.

Kouchi and Shintaro arrived 10 minutes later at the eastern peak, and it took them another 15 minutes to hike to the main peak where the rest of the guys were. To follow his earlier cover, Taiga also welcomed them with a hug, which earned him questioning glances from Kouchi and Shintaro. When they have rested well, Okabe-san announced that they would be playing the most fan-requested game, the Aishiteru Game. All of them groaned with some saying that it’s ridiculous that they have to say “I love you” to another guy.

“What would we gain from this anyway?” Juri asked.

“I don’t know, Tanaka, but you will get paid and the fans will enjoy it, is that enough?”

“As I was saying, who will be the first pair?” Juri asked and quickly backed-off, being called in their last name meant one thing, Okabe-san is in a bad mood.

“I don’t want to think longer since it looked like it might rain any moment now, so let’s go with the first pair who reached the peak, Kyomoto, and Matsumura, the first one to laugh or gets embarrassed will lose, okay?”

Taiga clasped his hands together, he was sweating so much that there could be a waterfall on his palms, not to mention the drumming of his heart and he knew that it was not because he climbed a mountain. He glanced at Hokuto, who was looking everywhere, except at him.

“Okay, Aishiteru game first pair, ready when you are, action,” Okabe announced.

Like the pro that he is, Taiga managed to fix his eyes to Hokuto the moment he heard ‘action’, he just stared at him, seeing him in a different light, not just as his co-star, not just as his schoolmate, not just as his kouhai, not just as his friend, but as a man; a man who loved clothes and spices, a man who loved acting and perfecting his craft, a man who loved his friends despite his introverted nature, and a man who once kissed him in the snow and bid him goodbye in spring.

The forces of nature seem to be helping Taiga, clouds gather at the main peak, obscuring everyone’s view, enveloping Taiga and Hokuto in a hazy circle where there was no one else but the two of them. Hokuto was forced to glance at Taiga as the clouds floated and rolled by, and when he did, Taiga realized what is Hokuto to him, his warmth in winter, rain in his spring, clouds during his summer, and Taiga found himself saying those words, “I love you,”.

Hokuto stared at Taiga for some time, as though he didn’t hear him, didn’t understand him, when the clouds started to clear and as the ray of sunlight shone at them like a spotlight, he replied, “I’m sorry”.

**Author's Note:**

> -All italicized quotes are from Sex and the City.  
> -Next will be the final chapter for this prequel and I still have no idea what to write about.  
> -I hope you enjoyed reading this  
> -Thank you for reading! x


End file.
